A stretchable fabric and a method, a wrinkle-free fabric and garments thereof

ABSTRACT

Described here in various embodiments is a stretchable yarn, a stretchable fabric made of the stretchable yarn, and a wrinkle-free stretchable garments having the stretchable fabric or manufactured from the stretchable fabric. Said stretchable yarn comprises a core yarn and staple fibres wherein the core yarn manufactured by intermingling a filament and an elastomeric yarn and said core yarn is bleded with the staple fibers.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a wrinkle-free fabric. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a stretchablewrinkle-free fabric, a stretchable yarn for the said fabric and garmentsmade thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Garments made out of stretch woven fabric have gained lot of popularitydue to its comfort property and there is a demand in market place forstretch garments with non-iron properties. The stretch or stretchablefabric is a fabric which stretches and stretch the fabrics either 2-wayor 4-way. The stretchable fabric includes an elastomeric yarn in warpand/or weft directions making the fabric stretchable.

The wrinkle-free finish such as fabrics and/or garments are also knownas “Easy Care”, Durable Press”, “Wrinkle-Resistant”, “Wash and Wear”,“No Iron”, “iron free”, “permanent press finish” etc. This permanentpress finish function is obtained by forming cross-links betweenadjacent cellulose polymer chains which gives some elastic andresiliency properties to the cellulostic fibers. Such cross-linking ofcellulosic fibers recovers the fabric from deformation stresses and thuswrinkles will not form. However, the wrinkle-free property is obtainedat the cost of reduction in the tensile and tear strength of the fabric.Presently, there are three processes for manufacturing the wrinkle-freefabrics are used which includes pre-cure, post-cure and garment dipping.The more preferable process of wrinkle-free for mens wear and womenswear is the garment dipping. In garment dipping process, garments areconstructed from non-resinated fabric, then impregnated or the resin isapplied by spraying it onto the garment during tumbling process in anenclosed rotational device. A microprocessor is used to meter the exactamount of chemicals and to control the rotation time, desired wetpick-up, spray rate and process time. The garments are then pressed andcured. However, there is significant reduction in the strength of thefabric. The loss is about 40-60% of tensile and tear strength. If aregular stretch fabric with cotton/elastomeric weft, is subjected togarment dipping treatment, the strength and shape retention propertiesof the garment gets compromised. Shape retention properties of suchgarments further deteriorate once subjected to repeated homelaunderings. If the garments made of present regular stretchable fabricsprocessed for wrinkle-free by the dipping, tensile strength and tearstrength of the streatchable fabrics decrease below the acceptablelimits defined by various leading brands. Further, though other methodscan used for producing streachable wrinkle-free fabric, those are alsodescreasing the strength of the streachable fabric to a considerableamount which may lead to decrease in the wear life and durability of thestreachable fabric.

Hence there is a need of a wrinkle-free fabric that can stretch in 2-wayor 4-way directions solving at least one of the problems discussedabove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, provided herein is a woven stretch fabric comprising aplurality of warp yarns and a plurality of weft yarns wherein eitherweft yarns or warp yarns, or both, are stretchable yarns, eachstretchable yarn includes a core yarn made of filament and elastomericyarn and said core yarn is blended with staple fibres.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the plurality of warpyarns comprise a core yarn of filament and elastomeric yarns wherein thecore yarns are covered by staple fibres.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the weft yarnspreferably comprises the streachable yarns to make fabric stretchable intwo direction.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the warp and weft yarnscomprise the streachable yarns to make fabric stretchable in fourdirections.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the core yarn isobtained by intermingling a filament and an elastomeric yarn by nippingof the filament and the elastomeric yarn with the nip frequency rangingfrom 80-200 nips per meter.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the filament yarncomprises polyester filaments. Advatageously, the filament denier of thestretchable yarn ranges 20 D to 300 D.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the streatchable yarncomprises a polyester yarn in an amount of about 15% to about 20% byweight of the total weight of the stretchable yarn.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the elastomeric yarncomprises polyurethane.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the stretchable yarncomprises a polyurethane yarn in an amount of about 2% to about 6% byweight of the total weight of the yarn. Advantageously, the elastomericdenier of the stretchable yarn ranges from 20 D to 140 D.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the staple fibre is inan amount of about 75% to about 80% by weight of the total weight of thestretchable yarn. In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, thestaple fibre is are selected from the group consisting of cotton fibers,regenerated cellulose fibers, manmade fibers, and combinations thereof.In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the warp count of thefabric ranges from 8 s Ne to 100 s Ne and the weft count of the fabricranges from 8 s Ne to 70 s Ne.

In some embodiments of the woven stretch fabric, the woven stretchfabric is a wrinkle resistant fabric further comprising an impregnatedresin or a sprayed on resin.

In another aspect, provided herein is a method for manufacturing a wovenstretch fabric or garment thereof, comprising the steps of providing aplurality of warp yarns, providing a plurality of weft yarns comprisingstretchable yarns, each stretchable yarn having a core yarn comprising afilament and an elastomeric yarn wherein the core yarns are covered bystaple fibres, and, weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns to form astretchable fabric.

In one embodiment of the method, the method include a step of treatingthe stretchable fabric with liquid ammonia.

In one another embodiment of the method, the method include a step ofoptionally dipping the ammonia treated stretchable fabric or garmentthereof in a resin to obtain a wrinkle-free fabric or garment thereof.

In one another aspect, the present invention provides a wrinkle freestretch garment manufactured from a woven stretch fabric provided by atleast one of the aforementioned aspects of the present invention.

In one more another aspect, a stretchable yarn for manufacturingstretchable fabric, comprising a core yarn and staple fibres wherein thecore yarn manufactured by intermingling a filament and an elastomericyarn, said core yarn blended with the staple fibres on ring spinningmachine for covering the core yarn with staple fibers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a streatchable yarn described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will appearfrom the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings which form apart hereof. In carrying out the objects of this invention, it is to beunderstood that its essential features are susceptible to change indesign and structural arrangement, with only one practical, andpreferred embodiment being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, asrequired.

The terms “a”, “an”, and “the” as used in the claims herein are used inconformance with long-standing claim drafting practice and not in alimiting way. Unless specifically set forth herein, the terms “a”, “an”,and “the” are not limited to one of such elements, but instead mean “atleast one”.

The present invention in various embodiments provides a stretchableyarn, a stretchable fabric made of the stretchable yarn, and awrinkle-free stretchable garments having the stretchable fabric ormanufactured from the stretchable fabric.

FIG. 1 shows the streatchable yarn (100) according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention. The stretchable yarn (100)comprises a core yarn (110) and staple fibers (120).

According to the present invention, the core yarn (110) is manufacturedby intermingling a filament yarn (110A) and an elastomeric yarn (110B)through nipping of elastomeric and filament yarns with the nip frequencyranging from 80-200 nips per meter. Then, the stretchable yarn (100) isring spun by acore spinning yarn technology wherein staple fibers (120)are wrapped or cover the core yarn (110). Various methods and systemsare known in the textile field can be used for core spinning of thestretchable yarn according to present invention. In the presentinvention a conventional core spinning attachment with ring spinningsystems is used to manufacture the stretchable yarn according to thepresent invention.

According to the present invention, the filament denier of thestretchable yarn (100) ranges 20 D to 300 D. The filament yarn (110A)comprises polyester filaments. Preferably, the stretchable yarncomprises a polyester yarn in an amount of about 15% to about 20% byweight of the total weight of the stretchable yarn.

According to the present invention, the elastomeric denier of thestretchable yarn ranges from 20 D to 300 D. The elastomeric yarn (110B)comprises polyurethane. Preferably, the stretchable yarn comprises apolyurethane yarn in an amount of about 2% to about 6% by weight of thetotal weight of the yarn.

According to the present invention, the staple fibre (120) in an amountof about 75% to about 80% by weight of the total weight of thestretchable yarn. The staple fibres (120) may be selected from a groupincluding cotton, fibers, regenerated cellulose fibers, manmade fibers,natural fibers and combination thereof.

The present invention also provides a stretchable yarn for manufacturinga wrinkle-free stretch garment, said yarn comprising a core ply yarn offilament and elastomeric yarn covered by cotton fibres or staple fibreshas instant absorbency to allow resin to penetrate into the veryinterior of the fibres and form crosslinks for making the wrinkle-freestretch fabric.

Accordingly, a woven stretch fabric ready to make wrinkle-free fabric orgarment is manufactured by weaving the stretchable yarns (100). The saidwoven stretch fabric comprises a plurality of warp yarns and a pluralityweft yarns interlaced to form a woven fabric, wherein either weft yarns,so warp yarns or both comprises the stretchable yarns (100). In thepresent invention, a known woven technology is used for weaving thestretchable yarns with warp yarns. The fabric made from the streachableyarns (100) has increased absorbency that allows resin to penetrate intothe interior of the fibres of yarns and forming of crosslinks for makingthe wrinkle-free fabric stretchable atleast in two or four directions.

Preferably, all weft yarns comprises stretchable yarns and the warpyarns comprises ring spun yarns for making a wrinkle-free garment withstretchability in two directions. The warp yarns can be single ply ormultiply-ring spun staple fibres. Alternatively, the woven stretchfabric ready to make a wrinkle-free fabric or garment, comprisesstretchable yarns in both weft and warp direction for making awrinkle-free garment having stretchability in four directions.

According a preferable embodiment of the present invention, the wovenstretch fabric has a weight preferably ranging between 80-450 gsm. Thewarp count of the stretchable fabric ranges from 8 s Ne to 100 s Ne andthe weft count of the fabric ranges from 8 s Ne to 70 s Ne.

The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a wovenstretch fabric ready to make a wrinkle-free fabric or garment comprisingsteps of providing a plurality of warp yarns, providing a plurality ofweft yarns comprising stretchable yarns, and weaving the warp yarns andweft yarns to form a fabric. According to the present invention, eachstretchable yarn having a core ply yarn of filament and elastomeric yarncovered by cotton fibers or staple fibres for increasing absorbency toallow resin to penetrate into the very interior of the fibres and formcrosslinks for making the wrinkle-free fabric stretchable in twodirections.

According to the present invention, the warp yarns may also comprisestreachable yarns, each stretchable yarn having a core ply yarn offilament and elastomeric yarn covered by cotton fibers or staple fibresfor increasing absorbency to allow resin to penetrate into the veryinterior of the fibres and form crosslinks for making the wrinkle-freefabric stretchable in four directions.

According to the present invention, the method comprises further step oftreating the fabric with liquid-ammonia at ultra-low temperatures forcausing deconvolution of cellulosic fibre, smoothing of the surface,swelling of the fibre to a circular cross section, improved absorbency,strength and lustre and touch of the woven stretch fabric ready to makea wrinkle-free fabric or garment.

According to the preferable embodiment of the present invention, agarment is manufactured from the liquid-ammonia treated woven stretchfabric and treated with the resins by a garment dipping method to obtaina woven wrinkle-free stretch garment. The woven stretch wrinkle-freegarment obtained from the woven stretch fabric of the present inventionby dipping method has a tensile strength and tear strength above theacceptable limits, as strength of the fabric of the present inventiondrops by only 20-30% in garment dipping thereby maintaining customerstrength requirement.

According to the present invention, a pre-cure method is applied to thewoven stretch fabric of the present invention to obtain a wovenwrinkle-free stretch fabric by treating with resins. Alternatively, apost-cure method is applied where in resin is applied on fabric and thenthe garments are manufactured from the resin applied fabric, pressed andcured to make wrinkle-free garments.

According to the present invention, the warp and weft yarns are griegeyarns or dyed yarns to obtain griege or dyed woven stretch fabric readyto make make a wrinkle-free fabric or garment.

The present invention solves the problem by providing a woven stretchfabric ready to make a wrinkle-free fabric or garment. The woven stretchfabric of the present invention has excellent absorbency to allow resinto penetrate into the very interior of the fibres and form crosslinks.The garments manufactured from the woven stretch fabric are durable,stretchable and wrinkle-free. Further, the garment made out of thecoreply stretch fabric has better shape retention, better creaserecovery angle, controlled growth and better strength propertiescompared to garment made out of regular fabric.

The following Examples and/or Comparative Examples are provided in orderto highlight characteristics of one or more embodiments, but it will beunderstood that the Examples and Comparative Examples are not to beconstrued as limiting the scope of the embodiments, nor are theComparative Examples to be construed as being outside the scope of theembodiments. Further, it will be understood that the embodiments are notlimited to the particular details described in the Examples andComparative

EXAMPLES Example 1

Stretch fabric made by conventional method and the woven stretch fabricwere tested at initial stages, then treated with resins to obtainwrinkle-free fabric and tested again. The test method used for testingwere Home Laundry Washing Cycle method (AATCC-135) and EvaluatingStretch & Growth Test Method (ASTM-D-3107). The test results are shownin Table 1 as given below:

TABLE 1 After 10 Home After 20 Home Initial laundary wash laundary washFabric type Warp × Weft Content Stretch Growth Stretch Growth StretchGrowth Conventional stretch 40s Ne × 40s Ne Elastomeric Yarn 96% Cotton/22.00% 4.00% 22.80% 6.00% 22.00% 6.00% fabric 4% Elastane 40s Ne × 2/80sNe + 40s Ne 98% Cotton/ 20.40% 3.00% 20.80% 5.60% 21.00% 6.40%Elastomeric yarn 2% Elastane Woven stretch fabric 2/80s Ne × 40s Necoreply yarn 77% Cotton/ 20.00% 2.20% 20.00% 2.40% 18.60% 3.30% of thepresent 18% invention Polyester/4% Elastane 2/80s Ne × 40s Ne coreplyyarn 77% Cotton/ 22.00% 2.00% 22.00% 2.60% 22.00% 2.80% 18% Polyester/4%Elastane

Example 2

Stretch fabric made by conventional method and the woven stretch fabricwere tested at initial stages, then treated with resins to obtainwrinkle-free fabric and tested again. The test method used for testingtear strength (ASTM-D 1424) & tensile strength (ASTM-D 5034). The testresults are shown in Table 2 as given below:

TABLE 2 Tear Tensile Fabric type Warp × Weft Content Warp Weft Warp WeftConventional stretch fabric 40s Ne × 40s Ne 96% Cotton/4% 3.1 3.1 71.944.4 Elastomeric Yarn Elastane 40s Ne × 2/80s Ne + 98% Cotton/2% 3.6 2.863.1 38.2 40s Ne Elastomeric Elastane yarn Woven stretch fabric of thepresent 2/80s Ne × 40s Ne 77% Cotton/18% 4 3.7 88.2 55.2 inventioncoreply yarn Polyester/4% Elastane 2/80s Ne × 40s Ne 77% Cotton/18% 4.53.9 97 54.3 coreply yarn Polyester/4% Elastane

It is found from the above example that the fabric made of presentregular stretchable fabrics processed for wrinkle-free by the dipping, %growth of the streatchable fabrics decrease below the acceptable limitsafter repeated home laundry washes, whereas the woven stretch fabricmade by the present invention for wrinkle-free by the dipping, tensilestrength and tear strength of the streatchable fabrics found above theacceptable limits after repeated home laundry washes, hence resultinginto better shape retention properties.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described in detail herein, it will be obvious to those skilled inthe art that changes and modifications of the present invention, in itsvarious aspects, may be made without departing from the invention in itsbroader aspects, some of which changes and modifications being mattersof routine engineering or design, and others being apparent after study.As such, the scope of the invention should not be limited by theparticular embodiment and specific construction described herein, butshould be defined in the appended claims and equivalents thereof.Accordingly, the aim of the appended claims is to cover all such changesand modifications as fall within the scope of the invention:

We claim:
 1. A woven stretch fabric comprising a plurality of warp yarnsand a plurality of weft yarns wherein either weft yarns or warp yarns,or both, are stretchable yarns, each stretchable yarn includes a coreyarn made of filament and elastomeric yarn and said core yarn is blendedwith staple fibres.
 2. The woven stretch fabric as claimed in claim 1,wherein the weft yarns preferably comprise the streachable yarns to makefabric stretchable in two direction.
 3. The woven stretch fabric asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the warp and weft yarns comprises thestreachable yarns to make fabric stretchable in four directions.
 4. Thewoven stretch fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein the warp count ofthe fabric ranges from 8 s Ne to 100 s Ne and the weft count of thefabric ranges from 8 s Ne to 70 s Ne.
 5. The woven stretch fabric asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the woven stretch fabric is a wrinkleresistant fabric further comprising an impregnated resin or a sprayed onresin.
 6. The woven stretch fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein thecore yarn is obtained by intermingling a filament and an elastomericyarn by nipping of the filament and the elastomeric yarn with the nipfrequency ranging from 80-200 nips per meter.
 7. The woven stretchfabric as claimed in claim 6, wherein the filament denier of thestretchable yarn ranges 20 D to 300 D.
 8. The woven stretch fabric asclaimed in claim 6, wherein the filament yarn comprises polyesterfilaments.
 9. The woven stretch fabric as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe stretchable yarn comprises a polyester yarn in an amount of about15% to about 20% by weight of the total weight of the yarn.
 10. Thewoven stretch fabric as claimed in claim 6, wherein the elastomericdenier of the stretchable yarn ranges from 20 D to 300 D.
 11. The wovenstretch fabric as claimed in claim 6, wherein the elastomeric yarncomprises polyurethane.
 12. The woven stretch fabric as claimed in claim1, wherein the stretchable yarn comprises a polyurethane yarn in anamount of about 2% to about 6% by weight of the total weight of theyarn.
 13. The woven stretch fabric of claim 1, comprising the staplefibre in an amount of about 75% to about 80% by weight of the totalweight of the stretchable yarn.
 14. The woven stretch fabric of claim 1,wherein the staple fibres are selected from the group consisting ofcotton fibers, regenerated cellulose fibers, manmade fibers, andcombinations thereof.
 15. A method for manufacturing a woven stretchfabric or garment thereof, comprising the steps of a) providing aplurality of warp yarns; b) providing a plurality of weft yarnscomprising stretchable yarns, each stretchable yarn having a core yarnof a filament and an elastomeric yarn wherein the core yarn is coveredby staple fibres; and c) weaving the warp yarns and weft yarns to form astretchable fabric.
 16. The method as claimed in claim 15, furthercomprising step of treating the stretchable fabric with liquid ammonia.17. The method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising step ofoptionally dipping the fabric or garment thereof in a resin to obtain awrinkle-free fabric or garment thereof.
 18. The method as claimed inclaim 15, wherein the warp yarns comprises stretchable yarns.
 19. Awrinkle-free garment manufactured by treating a woven stretch fabric asclaimed in claim 1 with resin using a pre-cure or a post-cure method.20. A stretchable yarn for manufacturing stretchable fabric, comprisinga core yarn and staple fibres wherein the core yarn manufactured byintermingling a filament and an elastomeric yarn, said core yarn isbleded with the staple fibers on ring spinning machine for covering thecore yarn with staple fibers.
 21. A wrinkle-free garment manufactured bymanufacturing a woven stretch fabric or garment thereof by a method asclaimed in claim 15, and treating the woven stretch fabric or garmentthereof with resin using a pre-cure or a post-cure method.